HEISENBERG'S CAT

So even if the overall funding mechanism weren't corrupt, or if their physiology weren't way off from ours, it turns out that animal experiments are unreliable for yet another reason - one that harkens back to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. This was a conjecture that the act of observing something for the purpose of measuring it might have an effect on the measurement itself. Now we hear from Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science that "Mice, rabbits, rats, beagles, geese, and other animals all show measurable physiological stress responses to routine laboratory procedures that have been up until now viewed as relatively benign."

"For example, a mouse who is picked up and briefly held experiences several physiological reactions. As stress-response hormones flood the bloodstream, the mouse exhibits a racing pulse and a spike in blood pressure. These symptoms can persist for up to an hour after each event. Immune response is also affected. In rats and mice, the growth of tumors is strongly influenced by how much the animals are handled.

The study's author notes that "Research on tumor development, immune function, endocrine and cardiovascular disorders, neoplasms, developmental defects, and psychological phenomena are particularly vulnerable to data being contaminated by animals' stress effects."